Language of Canaan

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The language of Canaan is a self-critical, ironic term for a Christian group language ( jargon ) which - mostly unconsciously - is often used in the meetings of free church and pietistic circles.

The name goes back to Isaiah 19:18 ("At that time five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan ...") and describes a form of language that differs significantly from everyday language and is characterized by the syntax and vocabulary of traditional Bible translations, for example through the language of the Luther Bible (1912). For other circles, for example the Brethren , the language style of the Elberfeld Bible was formative.

Examples

“Canaanite” idioms

Language of Canaan Transfer into everyday language
When I was still in the world ... Before I became a Christian ...
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord! Dear parishioners!
Brother Schmidt, sister Frey and siblings Müller (only community members among each other) Mr. Schmidt, Mrs. Frey and Mr. and Mrs. (married couple) Müller
I have no joy. I have no desire.
She lacks frankness. She doesn't agree / she doesn't dare.
Your walk is not based on truth / scripture. You are not following the biblical rules of life.
He is not walking in the Lord / Spirit. His way of life contradicts our (Christian) convictions.
We received a deep anointing today under the proclamation of the Word (of God). The sermon was very engaging.
He comes to the hour with great faithfulness. He attends the service regularly.
Brother Müller is serving at (the Lord's) table today. Parishioner Mueller is helping out with the sacrament today.
Brother Müller will give us our word today. Congregation member Müller preaches today
Who Wants to Share a Testimony ? Who has had an experience with God and would like to tell about it?
As long as we still walk down here on earth ... As long as we haven't died ...
Bend the knees of your heart ... Be humble ...
He does not live by the purity of the sanctuary He leads an immoral life
Lord, make us hear anointed ears and see anointed eyes ... God, let's be open to your word ...
He went home ... He died …
A word has grown up for me ... I was impressed by a Bible verse ...
Let's get still ... We want to pray together now. ...
Forgive us where we have been missing ... "missing" i. S. of "having made a mistake", having sinned.
Go the lower way To be humble, to sacrifice oneself, to do unloved things out of a sense of duty (to God)
the enemy the devil
Jesus came in the flesh. Jesus appeared in this world as a human being of flesh and blood

"Little Red Riding Hood" in the language of Canaan

From a translation of the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood into the language of Canaan:

[...] After a while, the mother said to Little Red Riding Hood: “You are asked, my child, whether you would like to happily serve the grandmother with some food. You know the way to her little house in the forest. In particular, you must be told that you must be careful of the big bad wolf; otherwise you could be thrown into great fear of existence. Do you feel prepared for it or am I overwhelming you, my child? ”Little Red Riding Hood shook her head and happily let herself be equipped with the food. “It must be important to you,” said the mother, “always to stay on the right path and not get involved with anyone. And ”, she pulled a tightly written sheet out of the typewriter,“ Here is the word that I worked out for my grandmother in the forest after a serious examination of my conscience. ”[...]
When the hunter passed by, he let the two of them suffer great distress and was happy to kill the big bad wolf. Then he resolutely pulled Grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood out of the wolf's belly. Little Red Riding Hood, however, had to be asked very seriously why the big bad wolf had happened. When the two of them wanted to thank the good hunter from the bottom of their hearts, he turned them away and said: “We have to be sober. It was essential to me that I was able to do this service responsibly. You have to get that for free now. "[...]

"Canaanite dialects"

Within the language of Canaan , depending on the free church or pietistic community, certain “ dialects ” have developed so that trained listeners can assign the respective speakers to their parish origin. According to Erich Geldbach , for example, “a trained ear can still easily recognize an exclusive German darby by his language”.

Conversely, one and the same term can have different meanings depending on the direction of the church . Depending on the group, “praise” can mean a time of prayer in which God is praised, or a series of worship songs sung , or a mixture of both - within the group the meaning is clear.

In certain cases, expressions with reference to the Bible can also be a code word for the text in question, for example “ sub conditione Jacobi ” refers to James 4:15 as an addition to plans for the future : “If the Lord wills and we live, we will be this or do that ”. This phenomenon can be compared to the more commonly known “Matthew on the last” (meaning: Matthew, last chapter ), which is meant as a paraphrase for Mt 28 : 16-20  LUT .

The Charismatic Movement has also developed its own language of Canaan . To outsiders difficult to understand terms and phrases as are anointed , receive the blessing of the Father , resting in the Spirit , spiritual warfare and proclaim Jesus are typical of neo-Pentecostal groups.

The modern milieu churches, for example the Jesus Freaks , have also developed their own linguistic genre. However, this dialect is not shaped by the traditional Bible translations, but by the current youth language, and is therefore no longer a language of Canaan in the narrower sense. Here, the development described at the beginning has even been reversed; the full Bible is evidence of this.

Sociological Aspects

In many cases, the language of Canaan has developed from an originally Christian technical language with specific terms for theological or congregational contexts into a more widely used group language ( jargon ) which, as with other groups, serves sociologically to establish an identity both internally and externally.

Possible causes for this phenomenon can be cited that the speakers either need the old language familiar from Bible texts and community tradition in the form of a ritual to gain their own sense of security, that they tend to diverge between the various areas of everyday life and community, or that they need little Maintain contact with people outside of their piety style and also rarely use “secular” media (books, magazines, radio, internet) (isolation from “the world”). The use of the language of Canaan can, however, also be symptomatic of a more formal, impersonal image of God or a legal belief that is bound to the fulfillment of external requirements.

See also

literature

  • Joachim Burkhardt / Hans Rittermann: Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. Small phenomenology of the language of Canaan . In: Joachim Burkhardt (ed.): Church language - language of the church . Zwingli-Verlag, Zurich / Stuttgart 1964. pp. 9–32.
  • Jörg Zink : Canaan language and Christian jargon . In: ders .: The biblical conversation. A guide to interpreting biblical texts. Burckhardthaus-Verlag, Gelnhausen / Berlin, and Christophorus-Verlag, Freiburg 1978. pp. 165ff.
  • Andreas Malessa : The pious German dictionary. Now I understand the Christians! Oncken-Verlag, Wuppertal / Kassel 2002, ISBN 3789380741 (humorous representation of the language of Canaan).

swell

  1. ↑ On the language of the Brethren Movement see Michael Schneider: Characteristics and problems of the “assembly language” , in: Zeit & Schrift 6/2001, pp. 4–11; revised and expanded as: The language of the "closed brothers" - characteristics and problems (PDF; 104 kB).
  2. ↑ L. Röhrich: Gesture, Metaphor, Parodie , Düsseldorf 1967, p. 143f. (the complete fairy tale can be found here )
  3. ↑ Erich Geldbach: Christian Assembly and Salvation History with John Nelson Darby , 3rd edition, Wuppertal 1975, p. 51.
  4. ↑ “The peculiarity of the German 'Darbyst language' can also be traced back to the translation of Darby's edifying writings [...] Because an exclusive Darbyst normally doesn't read any other book besides edifying writings and the Bible, he lives in a very special way in the vocabulary of the Bible, so that even today a trained ear can easily recognize an exclusive German darby by his language. ”Erich Geldbach: Christian assembly and salvation history with John Nelson Darby , 3rd edition, Wuppertal 1975, p. 51 ( online ).

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